The Settlers of Catan is a fantastic game, and it would seem that in the board game world that means that a sequel was inevitable. So, eventually the Seafarers of Catan (Kosmos and Mayfair Games, 1997 - Klaus Teuber) was released. It was a fitting expansion, and so simple were the add-on rules, that I almost always include it in with the base game. The game offers very few more choices with the expansion included, and the amount of scenarios included with the book are excellent; some of them are truly fun! The Seafarers expansion adds a number of things to the base game, including...
1.) Gold Fields: These are basically “wild” hexes that produce whatever resource the player wants if they have a settlement or a city bordering them. This makes the gold fields very valuable, with everyone wanting a piece of the action. The scenarios counter this by putting gold fields in hard to reach places, with less than an optimal number on them, like a “3”. Still, it doesn’t stop me from trying to get to them!
2.) Water Hexes: As well as adding in some additional hexes of each of the five resources (and the gold hexes), twelve water hexes are added to the game. When combined with the fourteen edge pieces that hold all the hexes together, one can create many maps - many with more than one island. When using the water hexes, players usually start with their first two settlements on one island, and then must expand to the other islands. The edge pieces hold the board together in a large rectangle, keeping the tiles from sliding around on the table. Cities and Knights also comes with a frame; but it’s more of a hexagonal one, allowing only the setup from the basic game - so I prefer the Seafarers one more.
3.) Ships: Players expand in the seas with ship pieces. Each player receives fifteen ship pieces in their color at the beginning of the game. Ships cost one wool and one lumber to build (this raises the value of wool). Ships are placed between two water hexes and act similar to roads. In fact, the Longest Road (Now called the Longest Trade Route) now includes ships as well as roads. The first ship must be built next to a settlement on the shore, and then can be placed adjacent to other ships. Ships can also move, if they are the last ship in an “open” shipping lane (does not connect two cities). Players may move one ship per turn, to a location that they could have built. This makes ships sound more exciting than they really are - in reality, they aren’t moved that often. But either way, the ships are a big improvement, and they are the only way to get to other islands. Players are allowed to start with a ship instead of a road if one of their starting settlements is on the coastline. Ships are the crux of the game (that IS why it’s called “seafarers”); and while they don’t add much in terms of complexity, they add one more option for players to explore and make games more interesting.
4.) Special Victory Points: Some scenarios award special victory points - tokens included with the game. Many times this occurs when a player lands on a new island. This allows a scenario to dictate a change in strategy and a bit of variety to the game.
5.) Pirate Ship: A pirate ship is added to the game and is the counterpoint to the Robber. Whenever a player rolls a “7”, they may move the pirate ship instead of the Robber, placing the Pirate on any ocean hex. The player then can steal one resource from one of the players who has a ship adjacent to that hex. New ships can’t be placed next to the Pirate, giving even more reason to move him. Either way, it seems that the Robber is moved a lot less in games involving the Pirate. This actually increases the power of the Robber, and the game can get slightly nastier. If the Robber is stifling the production of your best cities/settlements for dozens of turns, it can get rather annoying. Players must think even more carefully when moving the Robber/Pirate, and Soldier cards become that much more useful.
6.) Scenarios: There are eleven scenarios included with the book, some of them rather good, others good for maybe one play or two. Either way, if a player would get tired of these scenarios, there is plenty more available on the internet. The first scenario, “New Shores”, can be played many times, as it’s basically the generic setup for Seafarers. The last two scenarios require multiple sets of the basic Settlers, so I’m not sure how often they’ll come into play.
Seafarers offers a lot of variety to Settlers without adding very many rules - probably the best epitaph an expansion can have. I won’t say that it’s necessary; indeed, one can play Settlers many times without the expansion and never miss it. But I doubt that you would return to basic Settlers after trying Seafarers - especially when you see the variety it includes. I’m certainly glad I picked the expansion up; Settlers fans will enjoy it greatly.
Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games.”
